According to Chinese state new reports, certain pharmaceutical suppliers have been cutting corners by using cheap gutter oil instead of more expensive soy bean oil in the production of antibiotics. Gutter oil is collected via reprocessed kitchen waste dredged from restaurant drains.

In the latest of several food scandals in China, the government said it will be investigating the matter and that it would declare its findings soon. The scandal is already causing alarm throughout China, and gutter oil was involved in another scandal in April when officials discovered underground workshops producing the material from decomposing animal fat and organs.